That's what millions of recession-battered American are thinking as they head into the holiday season. Time to cut back and shop smart, narrow things down to essentials and best buys.

And that applies to entertainment, too.

And so, just as Hollywood is getting ready for its busiest, most prestigious month of releases, audiences are looking at the price of tickets (and crush of time) and thinking ... maybe I'll wait for the DVD.

So, below, a week-by-week rundown of all the new, gaily wrapped presents studios are hoping we'll purchase this winter -- as well as an idea of who's most likely to find them a must-have.

FRIDAY

"AUSTRALIA"

WHAT'S INSIDE: An elegant Nicole Kidman, a rowdy Hugh Jackman, and a typically atypical movie romance that sparks just as World War II catches fire.

WHO'S IT FOR: You like adventure? Love stories? Beautiful stars? G'day, then! Think "Gone With the Wind," set in the outback, as directed by flashy Baz Luhrmann.

"MILK"

WHAT'S INSIDE: A brilliant Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk, the buttoned-down businessman who reinvented himself as an out-of-the-closet activist: San Francisco's "Mayor of Castro Street."

WHO'S IT FOR: Gay advocates, liberal Democrats and political junkies, partly. But the biggest demographic will be lovers of great acting -- as Penn starts the Oscar race.

WHO'S IT FOR: The millions who read the best-selling guy-and-his-dog book -- and the millions more who think Wilson and Aniston sound like a just-too-cute-for-words movie couple.

"THE SPIRIT"

WHAT'S INSIDE: Will Eisner's classic comic is now a film, courtesy of director Frank Miller and stars Gabriel Macht, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson -- and with all its noir intact.

WHO'S IT FOR: Eisner is every comic-book artist's favorite comic-book artist. But Miller's arty, tarty style -- think "Sin City," but even more over-the-top -- may be a bit much.

STOCKING STUFFERS: Adam Sandler tells "Bedtime Stories" that have a messy way of coming true while "Waltz With Bashir" does a delicate dance using animation to investigate a wartime massacre.

DEC. 26

"REVOLUTIONARY ROAD"

WHAT'S INSIDE: A good marriage goes bad in '50s America as Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet play the unhappy couple in Richard Yates' classic novel.

WHO'S IT FOR: It may not be the sort of "Titanic" re-teaming romantics were hoping for. But with Winslet's husband, Sam Mendes, directing, they're in excellent hands.

"VALKYRIE"

WHAT'S INSIDE: Tom Cruise -- with eyepatch, sans German accent -- gets back to drama as the real-life Third Reich officer who tried to save his country from Hitler.

WHO'S IT FOR: Fans of director Bryan ("X-Men," "The Usual Suspects") Singer have been looking forward to this long-delayed film for a while. Cruise haters have been dreading it.

DEC. 31

"DEFIANCE"

WHAT'S INSIDE: Daniel Craig eschews the 007 thrills for grittier scares -- the based-on-fact story of three Jewish brothers fighting with partisans during World War II.

WHO'S IT FOR: It feels like the most authentic of the month's W.W. II movies -- and perhaps the best acted. Too bad it's directed by the workmanlike Edward ("Blood Diamond") Zwick.

"GOOD"

WHAT'S INSIDE: Yet one more Nazi-themed movie -- this time featuring Viggo Mortensen as an intellectual who finds his words profitably co-opted by the fascists.

WHO'S IT FOR: The early buzz was that this was the part that was going to win Mortensen the Oscar he didn't get for "Eastern Promises." But that was before "Milk." And "Che." And "Frost/Nixon." And ...